INSIDE World Festival of Interiors Announces Day One Winners From New Home in Berlin

INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, has today announced the best interior designs of 2016 across the categories of Bars and Restaurants, Offices and Retail. The annual awards, which started today at Arena Berlin, encompass the best interior designs from the past 12 months from around the globe and this year’s winners include a 1950s style diner, a concept store in China and a co-working space in Sydney, Australia.

Rachel’s Burger by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office won the Bars and Restaurants category. The restaurant was envisioned as a porous space where the boundaries between inside and outside are blurred and the exterior walls can be fully opened to extend the perceived and actual boundaries of the space. The judges felt that the approach to the narrow alley site and the reinterpretation of the Californian ‘route one’ diner was well judged without becoming a pastiche. They also commended the choice of materials, such as glass and mirrors, and in particular handmade tiles from 1930s Shanghai diners, which they felt were refined and well-detailed.

‘Black Cant System - HEIKE fashion brand concept store’ by Hangzhou AN Interior Design triumphed in this year’s the retail category. The black shell space assumes the role of and art and design exhibition space as well as a furniture and fashion store on the second floor. The jury felt that “the profoundly tectonic approach was mysteriously moving and refined. The discovery of the tapered volumes in a second floor retail space and the reference to war and peace via Normandy landings was surprising and thought provoking.”

Woods Bagot were declared winners of the Offices category, for their ‘Paramount by The Office Space’ co-working project. An innovative adaptive re-use design, Woods Bagot transformed the upper ground level of Paramount House in Sydney into a tailored shared working environment, creating 22 handcrafted suites for creative and niche business activity. The design celebrates traditional joinery and artisan skills, while honouring the building’s heritage. Judges praised the project as a “paradigm shift for co-working [which] achieved a high-quality outcome rarely seen before”. They felt it represented a “refreshing contrast in office design, where highly crafted spatial, detailing and materiality strategies have been composed with an old world dignity.”

The three category winners were announced at the end of day one at INSIDE – World Festival of Interiors and will be followed by a further six category winners tomorrow. The nine category winners will then go head-to-head on the final day of the event this Friday to be named World Interior of the Year 2016.

As well as the INSIDE Awards programme, visitors to the festival are able to experience an in-depth talks programme exploring this year’s theme of ‘Fluid Interiors’ examining how crossover design is transforming how we live, work and play. The speaking programme features international interior design leaders including Joyce Wang, Ross Lovegrove and Paul Monaghan together with by prominent local German luminaries including Almut Grüntuch-Ernst, Principal, Grüntuch-Ernst Architekten; Sigurd Larsen, Principal, Sigurd Larsen – Design and Architecture; Jan Liebe, Principal of Berlin-based Nord Studio; and Jürgen Mayer H., Principal of J. Mayer H. Architecture Design Research.

Held in Berlin from 16-18 November alongside World Architecture Festival, INSIDE is where the global design community meets to be inspired by the latest and greatest in global interior design and architecture. Over three days INSIDE shines a spotlight on the people, projects and developments that are changing the face of global interiors. At INSIDE’s heart is a global awards programme, which will be judged by more than 20 distinguished designers and editors from around the world. Finalists that are shortlisted across nine categories will present their project in person to international judging panels. In a hard fought-over battle, one practice will win the ultimate accolade of World Interior of the Year, which will be presented at a Gala Dinner awards ceremony on the evening of Friday 18 November.